CNN’s Sanjay Gupta says uncle died amid COVID-19 spike in India

CNN’s Sanjay Gupta shared the COVID-19 death of his uncle, who lives in India, during a Friday segment discussing the country’s surge in cases.

“One of our favorite uncles passed away a couple of days ago, which was quite shocking,” Gupta told CNN anchor Jake Tapper, according to video footage shared by Mediaite, after Tapper asked how his family was doing.

Gupta added, “He was in his early 70s, pretty healthy, and he died of COVID.”

Gupta noted he’s heard from his relatives that people in India were more relaxed about following COVID-19 regulations for a period of time. In recent weeks they’ve gotten more serious about adhering to them as cases have skyrocketed across the country.

“There’s this real sense of trepidation, Jake,” Gupta continued. “I think this is first time that really, over this past year, I’ve actually heard them sound scared.”

India is dealing with oxygen shortages amid a spike in cases, with more than 380,000 new cases in a single day.

The Biden administration on Friday announced it would be banning most travel to India starting May 4.

“The policy will be implemented in light of extraordinarily high COVID-19 caseloads and multiple variants circulating in the India,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a briefing.